Learn Industry & Niche For Free

Massively. But not because of tactics. Because of access.

Publishers in finance and health subject guest posts to an editorial scrutiny that makes placements genuinely difficult. Which is exactly why links from those sites command such a premium.

Ecommerce has the opposite problem. Product pages simply can’t earn links.

But whether you’re operating in a regulated space or an unlinkable one, half the standard link building playbook just isn’t available to you.

The methods work the same across all industries. The difficulty curve and cost per link do not.

Both. Your link profile should include brand-specific and industry-specific links, weighted toward what’s more applicable to your site.

Articles that mention your brand name pass more authority and carry more trust than general content. But links from trade publications look unnatural if no other links appear to come from news, local or adjacent sources. Balance is key.

Real brands earn naturally profiled backlinks from a variety of sources. Wired shouldn’t be the only national outlet linking to you. The local Chamber of Commerce can contribute too.

Learn how to build a natural link profile >

Sure. But you’re going to need a different strategy than what most guides describe.

Start by accepting that nobody links to product pages. Nobody.

Your job, instead, is to build assets that do earn links – and then use an internal linking structure to distribute that equity to the pages that matter.

Buyers guides. Unique data about your industry. Non-obvious tools that provide real value. Each of these will attract links that a product page never will.

Then you link to product pages internally.

The internal linking stage is where you actually deliver value. It’s also the part most ecommerce link building campaigns ignore.

Need more detail? Our complete guide to ecommerce link building covers six strategies you can start using right now.

Links from publications, sponsorships and partnerships that prove you’re operating in a specific geography.

Local links are easier to earn than national ones. Sites have thinner competitors and the outreach is often built on actual relationships.

They’re also more powerful on a link-by-link basis when compared to national links.

You pay less to be the exclusive sponsor of your hometown softball league than you do for a moderate tier blog post. And that softball league link is something no one else can buy.

This isn’t an exhaustive guide to local links, but it should help you get started.

Link building for niche sites: what you need to know.

With an abundance of caution. And likely through some white-label sites you’d rather not advertise publicly.

Major publications won’t touch casino or gambling topics. That constrains supply to smaller, specialized sites. And always drives up prices.

The risk you run if everyone buys into that market is spiraling costs and bunching onto the exact same “cheap” links you wanted to avoid.

Editorially approved? More like let-three-lawyers-look-at-it. Here’s everything you need to know about casino backlinks, iGaming link building and gambling link building.

You work with what you’ve got.

Run-of-the-mill startups lack domain authority. But they often have thought-leadership founders who’ve got stories to tell. They have original data they can derive from their product. And they have a real reason to exist that journalists want to write about.

Turn that into coverage. Then use that coverage to build links.

If you throw money at guest posting like you’ll somehow persuade an editor to link to your new startup the same way they’d link to Google… well.

Read about link building for startups.

It sure is. Because affiliate sites have a chicken-and-the-egg problem.

The content they publish is clearly commercial. But a lot of sites that would link to an original resource won’t touch you once you start placing affiliate links.

Solution? Create original, robust reviews, tools or datasets that stand on their own merits. Away from the affiliate copy.

Here’s how to build backlinks to affiliate sites without getting flagged by Google.

Finance, health, legal and gambling. Those are the four hardest niches to build links in. Depending on who you ask, you can swap legal and gambling.

SEO publishers turn health posts down. Industry publishers won’t accept guest posts that aren’t sponsored (because of ad revenue, of course). Lawyers can’t discuss most subjects publicly. And casino? Google still won’t crawl some gambling domains.

The cost-per-link is higher than most other industries. Promotions take longer to schedule. And it often feels like someone is trying to sabotage your campaign.

The upside? Once you build links in those industries, they’re incredibly stable. Competitors can’t buy their way in.

Link building guides for hard-to-brand industries >

Is a Swiss army knife still useful if you can only use the scissors?

Local links and citations are about more than just “SEO.” Yes, they help with rankings. But they also bury your address in Google Maps, verify your Phone Number, and create Google My Business entries that improve conversion through Exposure.

Got a physical location? Local SEO is always worth it.

8 high-quality link building strategies >

Depends on who you ask. Do SEO agencies take clients that have zero history of publishing content? Of course not. Otherwise we’d all be out of a job.

Startups aren’t businesses without an editorial history. It just means linking to what you can get instead of what you wish you had.

That could be a startup interview on a third-party podcast. Data visually displayed in an industry report. Or an infographic created by a site that does link to competitors.

There are opportunities everywhere. You just need to look beyond what every other SEO thinks is important.

Link building tips for startups >